To facilitate progression along rock walls in mountaineering or speleology, it is known that pitons and wedges for fastening the various ropes may be used. Pitons are used when the rock has narrow fissures or faults; wedges are used where the fissures or faults are relatively wide.
Thus, climbing wedges are known which have the general shape of a hollow prism and, due to this shape, and to the number and difference in dimensions of their faces, can be used in fissures of different widths. However, in no case is it possible to use the same wedge in fissures with very different widths. Accordingly, the rock climber or caver has to carry a fairly large number of wedges of different dimensions so that he can always have available a wedge adpatable to the fissure he desires to use.